Web site spotlight: Nurse anesthetists say they practice safely without physician supervision
Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, February 12, 2010
Nurse anesthetists across the country are vehemently defending their ability to administer anesthesia to Medicare patients without physician supervision, saying there's never been a study showing the practice to be unsafe, as alleged by two large physician groups who filed a lawsuit last week.
On the contrary, several representatives of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) say studies have shown that certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) perform the service with equal safety, or even more safely, than anesthesiologists.
"It's fine for an anesthesiologist to sit in Los Angeles and say this can't go on; but it's another thing to create a policy that says you can't take care of an accident victim until a surgeon wanders in with his glorious presence," says Dan Simonson, a member of the AANA board and a nurse anesthetist and researcher in Spokane, WA. "This is not about patient safety. It's about access to care," he says.
Editor's note: To read the rest of this article, find it in the Reading Room at www.StrategiesForNurseManagers.com. Get a free trial membership that will give you 30 days to test drive all the exciting features on the Web site.
Related Products
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- CMS seeks comment on quality measures
- Practice the six rights of medication administration
- Don't forget the three checks in medication administration
- Note similarities and differences between HCPCS, CPT® codes
- Nursing responsibilities for managing pain
- CMS creates web portal for questions about 1135 waivers, PHE
- Q&A: Primary, principal, and secondary diagnoses
- ICD-10-CM coma, stroke codes require more specific documentation
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- The consequences of an incomplete medical record
- E-mailed
-
- Coronavirus vaccination: 4 best practices for communicating with patients
- Q&A: Pressure ulcer POA code confusion resolved
- Neurological checks for head injuries
- Keyes Q&A: Generator lighting, fire dampers, eyewash stations, ISLM fire drills
- Including 46600 in E/M leveling systems
- How to get reimbursed for restorative nursing
- Fetal non-stress tests represent important part of maternal and fetal health
- Coding, billing, and documentation tips for teaching physicians, interns, residents, and students
- Coding tip: Know how to correctly code each procedure an otolaryngologist can perform on turbinates
- Coding Clinic reiterates guidelines for provider documentation
- Searched